Have you looked into the New City Catechism (NCC) yet?

catechism noun \ cat·e·chism \ˈka-tə-ˌki-zəm \ from Greek: κατηχέω, to teach orally

a manual for catechizing; specifically :  a summary of Christian doctrine often in the form of questions and answers

Before the Protestant Reformation, Christian catechesis took the form of instruction in and memorization of the Apostles’ Creed, Lord’s Prayer, and basic knowledge of the sacraments. The word “catechism” and its practice is thought to have appeared in the late Middle Ages. Martin Luther popularized it in his 1529 Small Catechism. He wanted the catechumen to understand what they were learning, so the Decalogue (i.e., Ten Commandments), Lord’s Prayer, and Apostles’ Creed were broken up into small sections, with the question “What does this mean?” following each portion. The format calls upon two parties to participate, a teacher and a student, or a parent and a child.

Historically, catechisms were written with at least three purposes in mind:

1. To set forth a comprehensive exposition of the gospel — not only in order to explain clearly what the gospel is, but also to lay out the building blocks on which the gospel is based, such as the biblical doctrine of God, of human nature, of sin, and so forth.
2. To do this exposition in such a way that the false beliefs, errors, and heresies of the time and culture were addressed and counteracted.
3. The more pastoral purpose was to form a distinct people, a counter-culture that reflected the likeness of Christ not only in individual character but also in the church’s communal life.

Here at KHC we are using the NCC to identify, agree to, and respond to the essentials of the Christian faith. Choosing to commit to gospel-centrality, we want to clearly identify what we mean when we speak of and share the message of the gospel.

It’s been a whirlwind! Certainly enjoyable, but a whirlwind nonetheless. There are so many strengths to build on at KHC during this revitalization season!

Here’s an update:

1. I met with the Pastoral Council on Tues April 21. In total there were approximately 80 elder nominations. It will take some time to finalize an application and proceed with the vetting processes.
2. I also took nominations from the staff and elders for a Transition Team (TT). The TT is a temporary servant-leadership team of 8-12 men and women with some administrative gifting and leadership potential to come alongside the Staff as the Elder Team is reconstituted to help guide us through this transitional season in our church. I have asked that they minimally meet the qualifications of deacons and deaconesses. Together with the Staff and reconstituting Elders Team, they will form a unified and gospel-centered guiding coalition that will serve KHC in this season of revitalization.
3. We are in the process of updating Staff Role Descriptions. Bryan is first because he is taking over many of the responsibilities from Chad George. At this stage Bryan is the Pastor of Business and Finance. A standardized role description template is being developed and each staff member’s role description will be updated. Specific ministry objectives (MO’s) and personal objectives (PO’s) will be identified and agreed upon and then in a few months we will begin a series of developmental performance reviews.

This weekend we will hold “Family Gatherings” after each service. Please come with questions, thoughts, and input. We will have a chance to share more updates, provide some vision for this revitalization season, as well as listen to your thoughts, concerns, and ideas.  A commitment to humble and respectful dialogue will be required to participate. We will review some basic guidelines as we begin.

• Saturday night: Grab a taco or two greet some friends and guests and we will meet in the Harbor Room.
• Sunday after the 9am service: Greet some friends and guests and then we will meet in the Harbor Room.
• Sunday after the 11am service: Greet some friends and guests and then we will stay in the Worship Center. We will provide some fruit and healthy snacks for after the service.

Everyone has been so kind and gracious to Linda and me.  Thank you for the warm reception. We are very excited to walk with you during this revitalization opportunity!

Warmly, Gregg (& Linda)

The Beatitudes: Life in a Kingdom of Radical Joy

Our study is designed to deepen our joyful response to God’s gospel of grace. The Beatitudes describe eight qualities that characterize the life of Christ, and therefore our life in Christ.  As we study, worship, pray, and meet in our Life Groups we are asking that the Holy Spirit will begin to work these qualities IN and then THROUGH our lives.

Additionally, we are seeking church-wide renewal. Church-wide renewal begins with personal renewal.  Personal renewal begins with each one of us owning up to our own issues. Later in the Sermon of the Mount we are admonished to “…first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:5).  Here is what the Gospel Transformation Bible has to say about Matthew 7:1-5:

The Scriptures frequently warn believers against passing judgment on others (Luke 6:37; Rom. 14:10–13; 1 Cor. 4:5; James 4:11–12). Because they are sinful, human beings tend to excuse in themselves the sin they readily condemn in others (Rom. 2:1, 21–23). Here Jesus goes even further to say that people often excuse sins in themselves that are far worse than the sins they identify in others (Matt. 7:3–5; see also 18:21–35). The remedy to a judgmental attitude is an understanding of one’s own need for spiritual healing, for righteousness, and for mercy (5:3, 6–7). The pride that feeds the hypocrisy Jesus criticizes here may be the “log” in one’s own eye to which he refers (7:5)

I am not speaking to anyone in particular, or to any specific group here at King’s Harbor Church. I am speaking to all of us – myself included. This is part of our fallen human condition — to judge others more harshly than we judge ourselves.

Many questions arise as we study the Beatitudes:

• Are they entrance requirements for heaven?
• Are they statements about whom God prefers?
• Are they existential statements about what character traits make people truly happy?
• Are they impossible ideals designed to throw us upon the mercy and grace of God?

These are just some of the questions that make the Beatitudes both a rich source of exploration and easily misunderstood. Before we begin the study of each of the eight “blessed statements” it is crucial that we lay a strong foundation for understanding them.

1. To be blessed is not merely to be “happy.” The word in Greek, makarios, translated as “blessed” or “happy” is not referring to an emotional state of being. More often in Jewish vocabulary the word is used of God, ie. “Blessed be the Lord”, and when the blessing comes from God it has a meaning more like fortunate, being complete, or being the object of God’s favor. (My sermon notes are now available for download on the King’s Harbor sermon page.)

2. The Beatitudes are about life in the Kingdom of God (or as Matthew says Kingdom of Heaven). The first and last Beatitudes are bookends, ending with “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” and signal to us that everything in between is about life as the people of God. Jesus’ message and his actions were about establishing the Kingdom of God on earth.

3. The Beatitudes reverse our expectation of who we would think is blessed. The beatitudes would have sounded just as surprising to Jesus’ hearers as they do to us today. They really do turn upside-down our cultural understanding of what the “good life” is about. No one would expect the poor, the grief stricken, the meek, or those that hunger and thirst for God to have found the secret to a deep and abiding joy. These blessings seem to come to those who know they are lost and realize they have no self-merit to stand on before God.

Jesus scandalously inverts the understanding that is common to every society of who are the blessed people. In so doing, he expresses the timelessness of his wisdom, for what he says strikes all people, in every culture, as surprising.

4. Jesus lived the Beatitudes. Jesus not only taught about the Kingdom of God and invited people to become apart of the Kingdom through faith in himself, he actually modeled what it means to be a citizen of the Kingdom, and thus what it means to be truly human.

It is this last point that provides the basis for our study of the Beatitudes as a model for discipleship. Disciple means “learner” and disciples bind themselves to the teaching and life of another person. Disciples intend to learn more than just theory, they devote themselves to the practical teaching and ultimate purpose of the one to whom they have joined themselves.

The Beatitudes are not merely descriptions of the qualities that active intentional followers of Christ should seek to develop, they are descriptions of the very life of Christ himself. Jesus doesn’t merely teach the Beatitudes, he embodies them.

The following chart compares the Beatitudes with Jesus’ life.

5. The Beatitudes don’t describe an impossible, or a future ideal—but a present reality!

As Jesus’ disciples, we are called to grow not only in our knowledge of what Jesus taught, but in our relationship with him. We are adopted into the very family and life of Christ, so that Christ’s life and character are lived out in our lives.

This blessedness was understood by the Jews as the future reward that would come at the end of time, in “the world to come”. Jesus, however, described it as a present reality, a present possession for people who live as citizens of God’s Kingdom. Christian discipleship is not a matter of properly keeping the rules in order to be blessed sometime in the future. Rather, blessedness comes because of what Jesus Christ has already done, not what we must do.

From this context, it becomes easier to recognize a natural progression to the Beatitudes.

Ephesians 4:7-16

I. INTRO

Contemporary pastors are expected to have:

• The entrepreneurial skills of Bill Gates
• The counseling skills of Dr. Phil
• The organizational abilities of Stephen Covey
• The authenticity of Oprah
• The compassion of Mother Teresa
• The courage of William Wallace (Braveheart)
• And the humor of Robin Williams.”[1]

A good pastor is hard to find!

Stats related to Pastors:[2]

• 1,500 pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout, or contention in their churches.
• 50% of pastors’ marriages will end in divorce.
• 80% of pastors and 84% of their spouses feel unqualified and discouraged in their roles.
• 50% of pastors are so discouraged that they would leave the ministry if they could, but have no other way of making a living.
• 80% of seminary and Bible school graduates who enter the ministry will leave the ministry within the first five years.
• 70% of pastors constantly fight depression.
• Almost 40% polled said they have had an extra-marital affair since beginning their ministry.
• 70% said the only time they spend studying the Bible is when they are preparing their sermons.

Stats related to Pastors’ Wives

• 80% of pastors’ spouses feel their spouse is overworked.
• 80% of pastors’ spouses wish their spouse would choose another profession.
• The majority of pastor’s wives surveyed said that the most destructive event that has occurred in their marriage and family was the day they entered the ministry.

Overview of Ephesians

The first three chapters of Ephesians address the theological foundations of the Church.  Paul’s letters contain — Declarations and Commands, Theology and Ethics, Indicatives and Imperatives.

• The Indicative: Informs us of an accomplished fact; it is what has already been declared about you. It’s related to our justification…
• The Imperative: Is a command or direction – and is related to walking out the indicative and is related to our sanctification.

The second three chapters contain instruction, or input, on the practical outworking of the theological foundations of the Church.

Chap 4 contrasts our unity of being with our diversity of calling.

Vs 1-6 describe this unity as a oneness, or equality of Spirit, among all believers.

In v. 7 Paul turns a corner and begins to instruct the church regarding those who are to have authority within the Church…and this is where we begin our study today…

II. BODY

Today we asking the question: “What to expect from a new pastor?” from this text.  I’d like to highlight 5 characteristics from these 10 verses…

1.  A Man of Grace. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. (v. 7)  

• Not A measure, but THE measure.
• Everyone of us has been given grace according to Christ’s measure.  Every church needs a pastor who understands this concept.
• Grace, here, is not speaking of the grace that saves us (Ephesians 2:8-9). Grace in this context is God’s impartation of ability to accomplish God’s will (imperative grace not indicative grace), specifically as it relates to ministry within the Church.
• Churches, this church, needs a pastor who understands that the grace of God, without measure, is available for our sanctification…

2. A Team Player.  And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers (v. 11) ‘Ascension Gifts’

• Jesus was THE Apostle, THE Prophet, THE Evangelist, THE Pastor, and THE Teacher – and when He ascended into heaven He sent us His Holy Spirit as well as multiplying leadership of the Church into team ministry – a plurality of leaders (plurality means plural, or more than one).
• A man who understands who he is and who he is not.
• Apostle – Sent one
• Prophet – Discernment (telescope)
• Evangelist – A missional heart for the lost
• Pastor – A shepherd’s heart
• Teacher – A passion for God’s Word (microscope)

 3. An Equipper (vs. 12-13)

• Greek word: katartismos, which means to adjust (as in a carburetor) or to mend.
• Too repair and prepare God’s people.
• Equippers set up systems that lead people to maturity.  How do we define maturity?
• Unity of the faith
• Knowledge of the Son of God
• (A mature man)
• Measure of the stature that belongs to the fullness of Christ (always room for growth – we never arrive this side of heaven).
• D.L. Moody had an equipping perspective: He once said that he would rather put a thousand men to work than do the work of a thousand men.

4. A Man Who Will Speak the Truth In Love (v. 15)

• Truth – A passion for God’s Truth…
• Love – A shepherd’s heart…

5.  A Man Who Builds Unity Through Understanding Diversity (“Whole Body” thinker…) (v. 16)

• Systems thinker.  Consider the human body…
• Disease vs. Dis-ease…a systems issue
• Unity is not a goal, it’s a fruit…

CONCLUSION  — What is a pastor looking for in you?

1. A congregation whose members live their lives as active, intentional followers of Jesus Christ. (Philip­pians 2:2-3):

2. Here’s what I always ask for from church leaders:

• Humble
• Own your own issues
• Team player

3. Ask God everyday to give you His heart for lost and broken people. Jesus never says to the poor, “Go find the church,” but He says to those of us in the church, “Go out and find the poor, lost, sick, and broken hearted” and bring them to the church.

Besides this, consider the following three specific sugges­tions to build your pastor up and increase the fruitfulness of SBF’s ministry.

a. Pray for him every day. Write it down so you don’t forget. And don’t just say, “God bless the pastor.” Be specific. Pray for his health, his messages, his family, his flaws and weaknesses. Put yourself in his place and try to feel with him as you pray.

b. Go out of your way to communicate gracious words of encouragement. Don’t lie or embellish, but seek to identify encouraging attributes.  Write him a note on the registration card, send a thank you note or email; call him up on the phone. Get him alone sometime, look him right in the face, and say, “I appreciate your work and I am praying for you every day.” Don’t be satisfied with platitudes at the door after Sunday services.

c. Speak truth in love. No one is completely satisfied with his or her pastor. The reason is that all people are imperfect. Some people never seem to learn this and hop from church to church in search of the flawless pastor. That’s a hopeless endeavor. It is far better to find a church where you feel at home and to consider it your life­long responsibility to help the pastor grow. Everyone would like to change something about his or her pastor, but how many of us have devoted ourselves to earnest prayer about our pastor’s areas of growth and development? And how many of us have spent sufficient time in prayer and substantive encouragement, so that when it is time to share a concern that it is sincerely spoken in love (Eph 3:15).